Where are you going?

Just thought I'd share a link to this great video I just watched.

The Five Book

I love the quote, "Follow your dreams, they know the way."

Trick or Treat Cone

Just put this cute little Trick or Treat cone together. I am really enjoying this Halloween paper. I love double-sided patterned paper! I also really love the brads. They are so dimensional! The jewel on the spider and the felt on the ghost add the perfect touch.
I'm going to hang this cone next to the "spooky"banner I made last year. I'll post pictures of them together once I dig the banner out of the garage and do some Halloween decorating next week.

Everything came from the Scrapbook Circle Halloween Kit.

Cinnamon Sugar Delight!

Here's a look at what I made for the kids for breakfast this morning.
The recipe is Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs and they were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

We made these once before in regular muffin size, but they were too big. This is a very dense and filling muffin and you really don't need an entire regular sized muffin to feel satisfied. We decided to make mini muffins this time and they turned out perfectly.

One of the great things about the mini muffins is that you get the yummy buttery/cinnamon sugar costing in every bite!

Lily Bee Blog

One of my layouts was up on the Lily Bee blog yesterday.

I'm really loving the new Vintage Poppy Lily Bee line.

My friends Diana and Stacy have layouts up too.

Thanks Lily Bee!

Since I don't like to have a post without a photo, here's a look at the new wreath my mom and dad gave me for my birthday. It's up on my front door and I love how it looks.

Cookoff Containers

This past weekend, I was in charge of a cookoff activity at church. We had a turnout of around 100 people and so much good food. Everyone got to vote for their favorite dishes and then we had some spatulas and wooden spoons for prizes. It was a great night for getting together for great conversation and food.

I decided to make some voting containers and I was excited about how they turned out.

I found some plastic containers at Joann's. Luckily, the lids were really thin plastic and I was able to cut holes in the top so that ballots could easily be put inside.
I loved using the Lily Bee die cut frames to as a base for the title of each jar. They come in great shapes with interesting edges.



This was a great way to use up some of my ribbon stash. All of the paper, die cuts and memo cards were from the September Scrapbook Circle kit. The brown alpha is one of my all time favorite fonts and it is from Scenic Route.

Thanks for stopping by!

Trick or Treat Frame

I had a little free time this afternoon and decided to play with the Scrapbook Circle Halloween Kit. I've had this Fancy Pants frame for several months. When I saw the frame at CHA in January, I knew that I needed a few, but this is the first time I've played with one. These frames are so much fun to create with because of the layering possibilities. I created the layers of paper, stickers and bingo card and placed it under the acrylic. (The frame is make of a thick acrylic plastic instead of glass.)

I used my craft knife to punch a hole through the acrylic so that those great spider brads could punch through the plastic and sit right on top of the frame. They are actually sitting right on top of the project.

*Photos are out for Publication*


The ribbon is wrapped all the way around the acrylic. I wanted the project to float in the center of the acrylic and have some see through space on each side. The paper is attached with the two brads and a few glue dots that are hidden behind the ribbon.

I'm looking forward to a little more playtime with this fun kit!

I'll Soon Be Playing With...

...this fantastically fun kit!Can't wait to share the entire kit with you!

Kaiser Pina Colada

I just love the bright, happy colors in the new Kaiser Pina Colada line and I'm pretty sure you could love them too. Scrapbook Circle is giving away a prize pack filled with Pina Colada goodies.All you have to do is create a card with a sketch we have up on our blog. Click here for all of the details.

I can't wait to see your creations!

Fanstasitc Book

I just finished reading the Book Thief by Markus Zusak today on my flight home from Mexico City. Wow, this book was amazing.
It took me a little while to get into the book, but once I got going, it was very hard to put down. The character development was excellent. The plot was so well thought out and educational.

If you are looking for a good book, this is one I highly recommend.

Thanks to Jennie for the excellent recommendation!

Garden Goodness

Here's a look at a layout celebrating how much fun my kids had in my parents' garden this summer.

I must say that I am having such a great time playing with the September Scrapbook Circle kit. Besides the fact that the paper is gorgeous, the new Jenni Bowlin memo books, tiny circle alpha and border stickers have been prefect additions to my layouts.

I'm heading to Mexico City today. My husband is speaking at a conference theee and I'm tagging along on the trip. My wonderful parents are staying with our kids. I'm very excited to experience a new city and get some time away with my husband. I'll also be taking lots of photos and looking for inspiration everywhere we go!

Loving the Lily Bee

Our September Scrapbook Circle kit includes all of the paper from the new Lily Bee Vintage Poppy line. This paper is so beautiful. All 6 sheets are double-sided with lovely patterns are included in the kit.

I was able to squeeze in a little creative time today to play with the September kit and this is what I can up with.The patterned paper is all from Lily Bee including that great round die cut. The buttons, memo card, label stickers and alpha are also from the kit.

Hope I get some more playtime soon!

Day at the Beach

I've been quite sad about the photos I took when we were at the beach last May. I took a few hundred photos. I printed about 10 of them. Then my hard drive completely crashed and I lost the rest of the beach photos (and about 2 months of other photos.)

Here are my last two beach photos that I had left to use on a layout. I guess were just going to have to go back to the beach sometime so I can take more photos!

I really wanted this layout to have a beach feel, so I painted the background paper using a dry brush using a paint color that resembled sand. I really like the blue/gray paper because it fits the overcast mood of the photos.

Everything on this layout is from the September Scrapbook Circle kit.

28 Years and Counting

Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend, Xan! We have been friends for 28 years. Wow!

Here's a picture of the two of us that Xan's husband recently emailed to me from when we were in first grade together. (This is where we met.)Here's a look at the card I made for her.
Everything for the card and envelope came from the September Scrapbook Circle kit.

Misting and Layering

I had a great time putting this layout together this afternoon.After playing with glimmer mist at Creative Escape, I decided it was time to dust of my bottle of mist and use it on a layout. I think it ended up giving a subtle and interesting effect.

I started with a Pink Paislee Amber Road journaling card.
Then I trimmed the red border off so that I could just have the scrolling edge of the journaling block.Next I figured out where I wanted to use the spray and used this journaling paper as a mask. Just set the paper down and sprayed right over the top of it. I sprayed 2 different areas on the page. (The 3 technique photos were taken with my phone, so sorry for the lower quality.)
Here's an up close look at one of the finished mask areas. Everything on this layout is from the September Scrapbook Circle kit.

Creative Escape 2009 Projects Day 2

Last Saturday was another great day at Creative Escape. Here's a look at the projects we got to make.

Debbie Schuh's Creative Escape Album. When I first saw this project, I figured that I didn't really need an album for CE, but thought that I could use it for something else. But as the weekend continued, I kept collecting all sorts of things (name tag, raffle tickets, pins, RAK tags, etc.) and decided that this album will be a perfect place to store all of my junk from the weekend. I've never put an album together just for me with my stuff and I think this will be a fun project once it makes it to the top of the to do list.
Marah Johnson's Heart Box. This class was all about inking, sanding, misting, painting and getting your hands dirty. Most of the paper we used is flocked and it gave such great dimention to the project.
Not only did we decorate the box, but we also decorated the covers and spines of books that fit inside of the box. Still not sure if I will do anything with the insides of the books, but for now, this box is a great home decor item.Heidi Swapp's Once in a Lifetime Album. This was one of my top favorite projects. I love it becuase it is a place where I will put meaningful photos and it is a home decor item (which I love!) Heidi talked about how each moment is a "Once in a Lifetime" opportunity and how we are able to preserve and remember so many of those special moments through scrapbooking.
This album has many layers. The front falp folds up to reveal a gated opening.
Next is this star envelope that opens to a card that opens to a little envelope that opens to another card. Very interactive. Love the design!
Lynette Carroll's Unforgettable Wall Art. This project involved building a piece of wall art out of 6 different panels. We had to be very precise to have it all fit together. Maybe I was just getting a little worn down since this was the last of eight classes, but I didn't find the tedious work very enjoyable. Plus, I'm more of a bright colors girl, so the black and white palette wasn't as apealing to me. This was a well thought out project, just not one of my favorites.

That's it! It felt so great to get to create so many things is such a short amount of time. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to go again someday!

Creative Escape Projects Day 1

Creative Escape had 8 teachers each teaching a different project. Over the course of two days, each attendee gets to attend each of the 8 classes. The variety of teaching styles and projects was really varied which made for a great mix of classes during the weekend.

Here's a look at what we were up to on day one of CE.

Heather Bailey's Birdie Album. I totally love the bright, happy colors from Heather Bailey's paper line we used on this project. This was probably the most intense project because there were so many pieces to put together. Thankfully almost everything was cut, painted and ready to assemble. This was finished by the time we walked out of class and I was very happy about that.Most of the pages had something interactive or had a very thoughtful touch. This page included a pocket that held a separate mini album we assembled.
This page has a flap on the right side of the page that has another half page tied inside. It was such a clever way to add small extra pages to the album.
Tim Holtz's Enjoy the Journey Album. This was one of my favorite classes at CE. The pace was very manageable and Tim had an entertaining, inspiring teaching style. We got to work with grungeboard for the covers of this book and I really liked it. I'm thinking that I need to order some sheets of grudgeboard and play with it.
This little (2" x 3") album was something that could easily be adapted to many projects. We alternated sanded/inked paper pages with plastic photo holder pages and pages made from tickets. I really enjoyed using the small Tim Holtz brand metal findings: snaps, bookplate, safetypin, washers and brads. They add such a great finishing touch to things.
Carol Wingert's Pyramid Project Class. When I first arrived at CE and received a booklet with all of our projects, I'll admit that I wasn't so sure about this one. But I kept an open mind and was excited to see what ideas the teacher had in mind. This ended up being a favorite project from the weekend.

This is a clever pyramid box that is perfect for gift giving. This box still will get lots of embellishing, but I chose to keep a neutral palette until I decided how I wanted to use it. This would make a great holder for a small wedding gift. If could also be decorated for a teacher and house a wrapped candied apple. Another idea is to decorate this for Christmas, place and ornament in it and give it to neighbors.

The front panel is clear acrylic which I think is a great idea.
This is easy enough to replicate and I'm sure with practice, it could be done somewhat quickly. I'm excited to figure out how I'm going to use it.
Debbie Crouse and Paula Cheney's cool bookboard project. Our final project of the day was built from 7 Gypsies bookboard. We layered the bookboard which gave a great dimention to the project.

This has some fun interactive elements. The photo lifts with the knob at the bottom of the photo to reveal a journaling space. The panel with the little flower vase also opens like a book to show another journaling space. I really love the mini vase with flowers, the metal key and all of the layering.What a day! We finished off the night with a sit down dinner and an inspiring talk from Heidi Swapp.

Not bad for one day's work!

Guacamole Salad

Here's a look at what I made for lunch today.Thanks to my sister, Michelle, for sharing the recipe. And thanks to my parents for the extremely delicious tomatoes from their garden.

I forgot to pick up a red onion when I was at the store, so I just made this without it and it was still great. Next time I think I'll add a little cilantro too.
I think I know what I'm having for dinner...